


I Don't See What You See

by mggislife2789



Category: Criminal Minds
Genre: F/M, body image issues
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-18
Updated: 2017-05-18
Packaged: 2018-11-02 06:07:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 954
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10938567
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mggislife2789/pseuds/mggislife2789
Summary: Disclaimer: I don't own any of these characters or their original stories. This is only for fun. It's where my brain goes after the credits roll. No copyright intended. Better safe than sorry. ;)





	I Don't See What You See

“Dammit,” she said softly, looking into the compact mirror and picking at her chin. Quickly, Penelope grabbed her coverup and went to contour the fuck out of her face. She had 18 double chins this morning and nothing seemed to want to help. It would help if I lost weight, she thought to herself. But here I am eating a breakfast sandwich yet again. Tears started to sting at the corners of her eyes as she thought about going home. Today was a really bad day and she didn’t want to be seen by anyone. Not even Morgan. Especially Morgan. 

He was everything she wasn’t, and every day she fought the idea that he could never actually love someone like her, not when he has women that looked like models practically worshipping the ground he walked on. 

“Hey, babygirl,” he said from the doorway, loving the way her blue hairpiece was playing off of her striking eyes. Yet again, she had her face in the mirror. He didn’t understand. She was his beautiful babygirl. Why did she always doubt herself?

Garcia spun around, snapping at him without wanting to. This is why I should just go home today. Here was the gorgeous, statuesque God of a man who actually wanted to be near her for some reason and all she could do was snap at him because every morning she looked in the mirror she hated herself. Correction, she hated what she saw. The rest of her was awesome, but even the greatest of everything else couldn’t overcome what she saw in the mirror. “Sorry,” she said, spinning back around for fear that he’d see her face half contoured. “I’ll be in the round table room in a few.” 

Derek sighed and left the room, once again leaving his words unspoken. For so long, he’d wanted to tell Garcia how much he loved her, was in love with her. He knew what she saw when she looked in the mirror. One night, when she’d had a few too many drinks, she’d confided in him how she felt, but he just couldn’t see it. Since then, every time he tried to go and tell her how he felt, he held back, fearing that she would see it as a way to make her feel better and not an actual confession. 

After Penelope came in to do the briefing, which she did with her usual pep and perkiness, her face immediately dropped back into the slump it was in before. “Babygirl,” he said, grabbing her hand and leading her to her lair. Enough was enough. He had to say something. He was about to burst inside, and whether or not she felt the same, he needed her to know that he didn’t see what he saw. “I’ve got some shit to say.”

Garcia really wasn’t in the mood right now. The team was going on the jet in a couple of hours. When they did, she’d take her laptop and work from home. That way she didn’t have to be seen by anybody. “What is it, Morgan? I’m so tired.” That was a lie; she just desperately didn’t want him looking at her right now. 

“I need you to know some things about me,” he said, grabbing her hands in both of his. “Things that I’ve felt for a long time. I love you-”

She knew that. She didn’t understand, but she knew that he loved her as one of his best friends in the entire world. “I know, Morgan,” she said before being cut off with a finger to her lip. 

“No, you think I love you as a friend, and I do, but I love you as so much more than that. I love you as the woman who always puts her friends before herself. The one who keeps us smiling even on our worst days. I love that despite how you see yourself, you still wear your heart on your sleeve,” he said. He was rambling - starting to sound like Pretty Boy. “I am in love with you, Penelope Garcia. I need you to know that. I have no idea if you feel the same way or not, but I needed to say it.”

“Why? And how do you know how I feel?” she asked softly. How could her best friend be in love with her when he could have his pick of any woman on the planet? Why her?

Derek’s eyes widened in surprise. Even with a confession, she still didn’t get it. “You told me when you were drunk,” she laughed softly. God, seriously? How could I be so stupid? “And I’m in love with you because you’re you. I love everything about you, Penelope. The brain, the heart, the body - all of it. I don’t see you how you see yourself.”

The tears she’d cut back before boiled to the surface again. “Really?”

He nodded, bending forward slightly to kiss her forehead. “I am in love with all of you, Penelope Garcia.”

She didn’t get it. She wasn’t sure she ever would. “I love you, too, Morgan,” she said softly. “I can’t guarantee that I’ll ever be able to see what you see though.”

“Can we work on it? Together?” he asked, hearing Hotch down the hallway looking for him. “When we get back?”

She gave him a small nod and a gentle squeeze of the hand before he left. Turning back to her chair, she sat down and picked up the compact again to finish her contouring. This didn’t just stop because someone expressed an interest. She still didn’t understand how Derek could love her, but maybe, just maybe, she would stay in the office instead of going home.


End file.
